Leaves on the Wind
by Winds of the Desert
Summary: War threatens Konoha and Suna as tensions about broken treaties rise. In a last effort, the Kazekage and Hokage reach an agreement; Konoha's only male Jinchuriki must marry the Kazekage's daughter; what will come of their 1st meeting? NaruXTema. ON HIATUS
1. Negotiations & Decisions

_A/N This story is rated for swearing, violence, and some adult themes; NO LEMON IS PLANNED SO FAR!_

**Prologue**

"I want you to succeed me as Hokage."

Tsunade blinked, her shock turning into horror as she stared down at dying mentor. "Sandaime, no! I can't be the Fifth; it was supposed to be Jiraiya…" Tsunade faltered on the name of her missing teammate, who'd left to find their last teammate Orochimaru.

"Please, Tsunade, just accept it. There's nobody I trust more in this village to protect it; except you," Sarutobi smiled weakly as his heart monitor slowed to almost nothing.

"Take care…. of the village…. for me…."

"Sarutobi-sensei!" Tsunade cried, but it was too late to argue; the monitor let out a long, low beep and Sarutobi's eyes closed.

A medic ninja turned off the monitor while another recorded on paper, 'Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Cause of Death: severe case of pneumonia. Time of Death: 7:47 p.m., year 7 in the Fourth Great Age of Peace.'

**Chapter One**

**6 years later.**

Tsunade glared across the meeting table at the Fourth Kazekage, Sabaku no Aizen. "Why should we negotiate over this? It was a simple border struggle-." Tsunade began.

"A simple border struggle that almost killed my son!" Aizen snarled furiously back at her. Kankuro flinched from his place beside his father, wincing slightly at the pain it inflicted on his fresh shoulder wound. His sister Temari, sitting on his other side, gave him a reassuring smile before paying attention once again to their father.

"What are you getting so worked up about? Shinobi get injured all the time; it's no reason to go to war." Tsunade countered Aizen.

"Usually, you'd be right, but considering it was Leaf shinobi found on Sand territory that started the fight, you're completely wrong." Aizen said with an air of dangerous calm. 'You can almost see the murderous intent,' thought Temari as the air in the meeting room crackled with uneasy tension.

"The jonin and chunin in question have already been severely punished by me personally. What more could you possibly want?" Tsunade asked, fearlessly looking Aizen in the eye.

"I don't know; what could you offer me that'll be sufficient as payment that will save thousands of lives from yet another war?" Aizen asked calmly, eyes like piercing daggers. Both of Aizen's children shrank away from their father as a dark aura of rage enveloped him.

"I think I see what you're getting at," sighed Tsunade. Her assistant Shizune stared at her, eyes widening as she realized what her master meant. Asuma and Baki, the two jonin guards at the entrance to the door, glanced at each other in confusion.

"The only payment that is sufficient," continued Tsunade, "Would be either the heads of the ninja who attacked you, or…." Tsunade stopped.

"Or one of your Jinchuriki." Aizen finished. The effect of those five words was immediate; Asuma and Baki tensed, pulling out kunai as the two Kages glared at each other again.

"Father?" Temari gasped; it was a great insult to ask a village to hand over a Jinchuriki, especially for blackmail such as this.

"You honestly expect me to hand over another Jinchuriki after you took the Three-Tails last year?" Tsunade seethed angrily. Aizen waved his hand. "Misaomi was a different matter; she came to us of her own free will. It's not my fault your village treats Jinchuriki like crap," he said.

"And your village doesn't?" Tsunade snarled back at him.

Aizen smiled. "At least our Jinchuriki are happy where they are and not running away from home. I can tell you truthfully that young miss Misaomi-san is enjoying herself in Suna much more than she ever did in Konoha," he said, smiling when Tsunade flinched.

"Well, we only have two other Jinchuriki, and they're both the children of the Fourth Hokage; I can't possibly hand over either." Tsunade countered, looking relieved to have at least avoided that.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Hokage-san?" Aizen asked, his voice dripping with honey. "I have an idea," said Tsunade, smiling. "Which is?" Aizen prompted her.

"As older custom; a political arranged marriage between one of the children of the Fourth Kazekage and one of the children of the Fourth Hokage," Tsunade declared. Her suggestion was met by complete silence.

Both Temari and Kankuro looked terrified; Shizune looked ready to strangle Tsunade no matter what the cost; Asuma and Baki looked completely shocked. The only person to think it was a good idea appeared to be Aizen, who was laughing heartily like it was a good joke.

"Tsunade, that's the best damn idea I've ever heard come out of your mouth!" Aizen laughed, clapping lightly. After he calmed down, he asked, "The Fourth had two children, Uzumakis, a boy and a girl, right?"

"Right. They're both Jinchuriki, both extremely powerful, both thirteen, both genin, and both taking the Chunin Exams next week. There's Naruto, the older brother, host to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and Narukomi, Naruto's younger twin sister, who is host to the Eight-Tailed Giant Hound," Tsunade said, leaning back and crossing her arms, "Take your pick, Aizen-san."

Aizen leaned back as well, raising his eyebrows. "What's the catch?" he asked suspiciously. Tsunade smirked; he was smart.

"Well, first off, we need to wait until both your child and Minato's are sixteen before they get married. Which ever child you choose will also be required to stay in Konoha at all times until the wedding; in fact, to show our _gratitude_ that you didn't start a war, your child will also be allowed to retain their ninja rank and be allowed to participate in the Chunin Exams. Lastly, after the marriage, the couple will be allowed to live in either our village or yours, but their firstborn child will be required to become a Konoha shinobi."

Tsunade's words were once again met by silence, but this time every eye was on Aizen. Both Temari and Kankuro watched him fearfully, not daring to meet his eyes. Behind Aizen's calm demeanor, his thoughts churned at the speed of light.

'Temari is a unique fighter, but she's a better peacekeeper than Kankuro. With her here, she can handle treaties and agreements for me. Besides, we don't have many other puppet masters left in our village; we need Kankuro.' Aizen smiled. "I have decided," he proclaimed.

His audience watched silently, not even daring to breathe. Aizen continued, "I have decided that my daughter, Sabaku no Temari, will marry Uzumaki Naruto in three years time."

_A/N: Hey! So, this is my first story EVER! Anyway, for those of you who are wondering, this is set **BEFORE **the Chunin Exams, so Naruto and Temari have not met yet. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed! Review? Favorite? Give me your opinions!  
>-Temari-chan :).<em>


	2. First Meeting

First Meeting

Kankuro's sigh of relief was silenced by a loud, "WHAT?" Temari stood, glaring at her father with a look that would've killed a normal person.

"You can't just sell me off like this so easily! It's not fair; father, please-." "SILENCE!" Aizen's enraged shout quieted Temari's protests. He got to his feet, standing nose-to-nose with his furious daughter with a look of cold anger.

"I said you'd marry the boy; I never said you'd have to enjoy it or have a choice. You **will** do it, if not for my sake, then for the villages. We can't afford another war. I'm sorry," he said, looking genuinely sorry for a moment, "But this is the way it is. Deal with it."

Aizen returned to his seat, leaving his daughter quivering in fury. Spinning on her heel without glancing at Kankuro's look of sympathy or Tsunade and Shizune's look of surprise at her outburst, Temari stalked out of the room, shoving both jonin at the door aside roughly. Neither of them said a word.

As she left the room, her anger boiled up and exploded inside her, and Temari slammed the meeting room door shut with a loud, "DAMN IT!"

Tsukiyomi Uchiha, the ANBU member who'd been standing watch outside, blinked at her in surprise but said nothing as the Sand kunoichi stalked away, scaring everyone in her path. 'Not good,' thought Tsukiyomi, reminding herself that next time, before a negotiation, she'd summon the council members first.

/\/\/\/\

Once outside the grand Hokage Tower, Temari decided to find a training field she could vent her feelings on. She walked through the village as calmly as she could, but the aura of murderous intent coming off of her in waves kept anyone from approaching her.

The hand she usually kept on her giant iron fan on her back gripped it so tightly her fingers turned a pale white. 'Why? Why me? Why do I have to be the only one to marry some kid I've never met? He's only two years younger than me, but shouldn't I choose who I love and marry?

'And why should I be shipped off to this village? I want to stay home….'

Temari-luckily outside the village by this point- let her anger take over. Whipping her fan out of its red sash, she opened it and yelled, "_Ninpou: Kamaitachi! _Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

Temari's inner turmoil was brought into reality as the peaceful landscape suddenly became the aftermath of a huge wind storm. Several trees were uprooted, and birds and squirrels and other rodents were sent blasting into the air and then hurtling to the ground. Temari didn't care about their little squeals of pain; she didn't care about the trees groaning in protest.

All Sabaku no Temari cared about was destroying everything in her path.

Hours passed, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, after seven and a half hours, Temari finally collapsed, chakra reserves dry and voice hoarse from yelling and screaming.

And suddenly, for the first time in many years, Sabaku no Temari, dignified daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, began to cry. Her eyes stung from the tears, and it did nothing to help her already raw throat, but she didn't care.

'Why me? Does father really think I'm just useless, just something to get out of the house, just something to kick out when it's convenient for him? He used to hug me; to say he loved me for being his little girl. But ever since mom died, he…. he…" Temari couldn't finish her thought.

Her body shook with each sob as Temari realized for sure that the father who loved and cared for her more than anything else in the world was gone; forever. And with that awful, torturous thought in mind, Temari fell asleep.

/\/\/\/\

Uzumaki Narukomi hummed the tune of her favorite song, 'Suna no Oshiro,' as she skipped towards her favorite training ground to train alone. 'Damn, being on the same team as onii-san is great and all, but for once you'd think he'd _shut the hell up!_'

After a long day of Naruto's jabbering and Sasuke's criticism, Narukomi was very happy for the alone time. 'Really, if this keeps up, we're all going to fail the Chunin Exams before they even start; this is the reason Kakashi-sensei held us back an extra year before taking it.'

Narukomi's musings were interrupted when she came upon the state of her training field. Almost all the trees had been blown away, and there was what looked like a Suna genin in the middle of the clearing.

'Oh, perfect, more shit for me to deal with,' Narukomi thought mutinously. She carefully approached the Sand genin, who was wearing a Sand noble's style dress. After determining that the young kunoichi before her was really out, Narukomi knelt down beside the girl.

'Hmf. No injuries; looks like chakra exhaustion. Probably went past her limits,' Narukomi thought.

"*sigh* Guess I'll have to take her back home; leaving Sand royalty outside, unconscious, at night, is not the best idea when I heard our relationship with Suna is really bad at the moment," Narukomi sighed.

After returning the giant iron fan to the girl's back –'Damn, this thing's heavy!'- Narukomi carefully lifted the Suna girl onto her back and started to head back to Konoha.

/\/\/\/\

On the other side of Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto was-for now- unaware of his younger twin's predicament. Right now, he was preoccupied with the fact that _he was getting married._ Not for three years, but it was still a situation that would fill any normal thirteen-year-old guy's head.

He'd just been in Tsunade's office, getting told how he was to marry Sabaku no Temari from the Hidden Sand Village and that if he refused, he and his sister would never be allowed a ninja rank beyond genin.

He was supposed to meet the girl tomorrow at noon to discuss the details of the marriage with her father, the _fricking KAZEKAGE, _and Tsunade too. 'DAMN YOU, WORLD! MY LIFE ROYALLY SUCKED ALREADY; NOW I GOTTA MARRY A CHICK I DON'T EVEN KNOW!' Naruto screamed inwardly, though he kept his face straight as he got to his apartment.

What was Hinata going to say? He and Hinata Hyuuga had been dating for the past couple of weeks, and although Naruto was already considering breaking up with her on account she fainted every time he even tried to kiss her, he didn't feel like explaining this all to her.

And then, as he entered his and Narukomi's apartment, he came upon another scene he would've avoided if he could've. There was his sister, a regular sight to see, but she was placing an unconscious Suna kunoichi on their living room sofa.

"What. The. Hell?" he yelled, drawing her attention. "Oh, good, you're back. Now, you can help me with her!" said Narukomi cheerily, as if it was normal for her to bring strangers home every day.

"Help you with-? Narukomi, who is this?" Naruto snapped at her. "Honestly? No idea. Found her passed out at my training ground; chakra exhaustion by the looks of it. Anyway, I couldn't leave her out there; some creeps could've found her and raped her, and we couldn't have that happen to her when she's Hidden Sand royalty, you can tell from the fancy dress," Narukomi said, glancing at him, "Anything happen to you? You look like you've blown a fuse or two."

Naruto shook his head. "No, no, I get forcibly set into a political marriage proposal every day, it's no big deal," he said sarcastically.

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?" screamed Narukomi after Naruto had explained. "Can you keep it on the down low, sis? I don't want all of Konoha to know I'm in an arranged marriage!" snapped Naruto. Narukomi gasped and put a hand over her mouth for a moment.

"I'm sorry but, it's just that you're getting married to Sand royalty! This Temari chick must be powerful if she's one of the children of the Kazekage! I hear that all Kage's children are trained to be the best of the best!" Narukomi exclaimed, quietly this time.

"Yeah? Well, what ever. I can handle this as long as she's not repulsively ugly, I guess. I just hope she's a little pretty… like this girl," Naruto said pointing to the Sand kunoichi. A light suddenly dawned on Narukomi, but she quickly stifled her shouts of surprise. 'Naruto, you idiot! Can't you see that _this girl might be your fiancée?_'

"Ugh, my head…" groaned a voice. Both twins turned in surprise to see the Sand kunoichi sit up, awake.

/\/\/\/\

Temari blinked in surprise at her surroundings. "Where the hell am I?" she asked nobody. "You're in our apartment!"

Temari jumped and spun around with a kunai in hand to see two blondes staring at her curiously. "What am I doing here? Who are you?" she asked suspiciously, one hand sliding behind her to grip her fan.

"I found you passed out at the ruins of my favorite training field, but since you looked like you wouldn't wake up for a while I brought you back to our apartment. My name's Uzumaki Narukomi, and this idiot is my onii-san, Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you." Narukomi introduced them as formally as a rough-and-tumble kunoichi could get.

Temari gaped at them for a full minute, before asking, "Uzumaki Naruto? As in my fiancée?" Now it was Naruto's turn to gape. "You're Temari? The girl I'm supposed to marry?" Temari nodded.

/\/\/\/\

Later on, he'd remember this as the exact moment he fell head over heels for her, but for now, Naruto was just, well….

Naruto was in heaven, he really was. This girl; no, this _goddess,_ was his fiancée. He couldn't believe it.

He'd been mesmerized by this sleeping beauty as soon as he saw her; beautiful blonde hair, green eyes, a gorgeous light purple dress that showed her perfect figure. It was just too perfect.

Now he knew that this beautiful reincarnated-Aphrodite was supposed to be his wife in three years… That was too long a wait for Naruto's tastes! But it was still too good to be true!

And now she was looking at _him _with those eyes of perfect emerald, making him want to melt. Once he caught a glance from them, he absolutely couldn't- _wouldn't_- look away. He couldn't help but admit that this was actually a wonderful day after all.

/\/\/\/\

Later on, she'd remember this as the moment her heart mended, and her life became livable again, but for now, Temari was just….

She was actually horrified that she'd been crying about this earlier. She'd been wrong; oh, so wrong!

This kid- this _hunk_- was her fiancée! Now, most fifteen-year-old girls wouldn't think this way about a boy two years younger than them, but Temari couldn't help it.

Spiky blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, a really cute orange workout jumpsuit that had the sleeves torn off to show his muscles; he even had three strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks, but Temari didn't care.

'I'm still mad at you, but THANK YOU, FATHER!' she screamed in her head as her eyes locked with Naruto's. The cerulean pools just made her want to stare at them all day long. Today was a good day once again.

Narukomi stood grinning, watching her brother and Temari look each other up and down, mesmerized by the other's looks. 'I knew it; love at first sight!' she thought, nodding and smiling.

"You know, if you want to just look at each other, that is fine with me, but we do have to go sleep sometime, people!" Narukomi said loudly, breaking the two out of their reveries.

Temari coughed and said, "You're right; if this is too awkward, I could go find a hotel or-." "No!" Naruto quickly protested. Narukomi glanced at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"I-I mean, it's not awkward! Why don't you spend the night here?" Naruto stammered. "There you go nii-san! Why wait three years when you can just screw her now?" Narukomi laughed heartily. Naruto looked horrified at this statement, but Temari just giggled.

"Oh, if he even tried to, I'd just kick his ass; no need to worry about little old me!" Temari assured Narukomi, and they both laughed. Naruto looked even more horrified at this. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, don't be so gullible!" laughed Temari, waving her hand reassuringly at him.

"Oh, thank God," Naruto sighed as he sank into a chair across from Temari. "Anyway, do you want to spend the night? We should be getting to know each other now that you're going to marry onii-san," said Narukomi.

Temari smiled and nodded. "Sounds good. Do you have any extra sleepwear? I-obviously- don't have any with me." Temari asked Narukomi. "Sure! Follow me; nii-san, if you even try to peek, I'll hang by your hair off the balcony!" snapped Narukomi as she led Temari to her room, leaving Naruto to ask, "What the hell just happened?"

_A/N Wow, two chapters down already! I'm SO HAPPY! Anyways, if you have questions on the chapters, PM me and I'll answer them as best/fast as I can. Okay, and about the three Konoha Jinchuriki; only the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, but the other two Biju were either stolen or traded from another countries, just so you know.  
>-Temari-chan.:)<em>


	3. We Can Try

Naruto was lying in his room, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling in a whirlpool of shock and ecstasy at a mile a minute.

'Oh. My. God. I can't believe this. My _fifteen-year-old fiancée _is hot, smart, funny, totally nice, and a kunoichi to boot! I can't believe I _didn't_ want to marry her not half an hour ago!' he thought, already hearing wedding bells even though it would by three years until he actually heard them.

His thoughts were suddenly disrupted as Narukomi stuck her around the doorframe into his room.

"Me and Temari-onee-san are sleeping in my room; just in case you get any ideas!" Narukomi said, sticking her tongue out playfully at her older sibling.

"Do you really have to call me 'onee-san' already?" asked Temari sheepishly from behind Narukomi in the hallway.

Narukomi spun around, grin wide on her face. "Of course! What's the point in waiting three years to call you that when I can get used to it now?" Narukomi countered easily.

Temari was about to argue when she remembered that Narukomi could just take the pajamas she had given her back at anytime, even when the rest of Temari's clothes were in the wash.

Needless to say, Temari shut her mouth.

/\/\/\/\

After about an hour and a half of tossing and turning Temari still couldn't sleep, her thoughts were so out of whack. On the one hand, Naruto was attractive, but on the other, she didn't even _love_ him…..

Frustrated, Temari got up and left Narukomi's room quietly. Tiptoeing past Naruto's room, she entered the living room as silently as possible.

Temari carefully opened the glass sliding doors that led to the outside balcony and sat down on the railing, looking out over Konoha. Now that she had a birds-eye-view at night, Temari couldn't help but think that the village was indeed beautiful.

'So this is my new home,' she thought with a contented sigh, 'Not really that bad…'

"Can't sleep?"

The voice made Temari jump, almost causing her to slip off the railing but she managed to stay on. Temari spun her head in the direction of the voice to find herself face-to-face with Naruto.

'Holy mother of crap, he scared me; and he's _shirtless_!' Temari exclaimed inside her head, turning a light pink and trying not to stare longer than two seconds. Luckily for her, Naruto didn't seem to notice.

"How'd you find me?" Temari asked casually, suspicious he'd followed her.

"It wasn't too hard. I couldn't sleep either, and I was about to come out here myself when I heard you get up. This is the place I usually come to think, so I took a wild guess and came out to see if you were here; and I was right," he said, staring at her.

As if becoming aware of his staring at her, Naruto turned his eyes to the twinkling lights below. "The view is one of the best in the village; Narukomi insisted we got this apartment purely for that." He said, nodding to the village.

Temari turned back to look at the lights, and Naruto seized the chance to let out the air he'd been holding in his lungs. He hadn't expected her to look so pretty with her hair down.

"How long will you be staying in Konoha? Do you know?" Naruto asked as casually as he could. 'I hope for a very, _very,_ long time!' he thought.

"Well, we were only supposed to be here for the negotiation and the Chunin Exams, but Tsunade said as part of the deal I have to stay in the village until we get married or I take on a mission as a Leaf shinobi." Temari answered, glancing at him.

After this, they both remained silent for a long time, their glances shifting between the village lights and each other; needless to say, it soon became awkward.

Finally, Temari willed herself to say the words that had been weighing on her mind for the entire night.

"Look, I don't know how you feel about this marriage," she said, turning to look at him fully in the eye, "But I'm fully prepared to try to do this, to try to make this work as well as possible, if you're willing to try too."

Naruto stared at her in surprise for a moment before returning his gaze to the distant horizon. He remained silent for a long time; so long Temari almost thought she'd said too much, when he spoke.

"'_For life cannot exist without love; life without love is a life without care, hope, or support- an empty life. Life without love is meaningless, for he who never loves is he who never truly lives.'_" Naruto quoted unblinkingly.

Naruto returned his eyes to Temari, who had been sitting there listening, enraptured by his words, her breath hitched in her throat.

"That was a quote from a romance novella Narukomi used to read to me when I couldn't sleep when we were little. It's called, '_Life of the Loveless._' She used to think I liked it, but it sent me to sleep almost instantly, it was so boring. I never thought I'd ever quote it to my fiancée." He said, his gaze boring into hers like twin drills.

Naruto walked forward and sat beside Temari, who cursed inwardly as a blush tinted her cheeks.

Naruto locked eyes with her once again as he continued, "I really hated that book, but its message is true all the same; if we marry each other without the slightest spark of love between us, we'll both wither away slowly. But, if we try to love each other, and over time that love becomes real and true, we might just become proof that that damn book is right."

Naruto grinned and said, "Sure I'll give our love a chance, same as you, but you need to promise me one thing."

Temari's eyes were full of tears; she'd dated a lot of guys in Suna, but all of them had been heartbreakers, users, assholes, etc, and not a single one of them had said a single thing as close to pure poetry as this.

"Promise what?" Temari asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she gazed into his cerulean orbs.

"Promise me," said Naruto, slowly taking her hand in his, "That if our love really does become true, you'll always be by my side. I've dated plenty of girls who've said they loved me before running off with some other jerk, so I need to know you won't do that."

Temari slowly leaned forward; so did Naruto.

"Always. I swear on my life that I'll never do that to you, even if our love isn't real." Temari stated as loudly as she could, though if he'd been even an inch farther away he wouldn't have heard it.

Naruto's eyes widened at her words. "Do you really mean that?" he asked uncertainly, worry clouding his features.

Temari smiled and leaned forward a little more. "Does this answer your question?" she asked right before their lips met.

/\/\/\/\

Narukomi watched unnoticed in the shadows of the living room, tears dripping down her face.

'And he said he _hated_ that book!' she thought as she swiped the tears from her eyes before disappearing into her own room, deciding her brother and his fiancée deserved a bit of privacy.

_A/N OMG SUCH A SWEET MOMENT! Anyways, sorry I didn't update for a while, but I DO have a life, you know. Okay, so, chapter three is done! Hope you enjoy! Comment? Question? Feel free to review!  
>-Temari-chan :).<em>


	4. Dress Up, Break Up, Beat Down

The dawn was witness to a happy pair of blondes as they talked until well after the sun had risen. They were both dead tired, but they also wanted to know as much about the other as possible.

Temari learned that Naruto had failed the Academy twice before getting through (somehow), that his favorite food was ramen (no matter what kind), that he'd received a frog wallet from Narukomi a few years ago on their birthday and he'd named it 'Gama-chan', that he had an irrational fear of flies coming out of nowhere to land on his ramen, and that he hated some of the older villagers and shinobi for treating him and his sister like total shit for as long as he could remember.

Naruto learned that Temari had graduated on her first try, that her favorite snacks were dumplings, that she had gotten her fan for her tenth birthday a few days after she'd complained to her father that she wanted a unique style of fighting, that she had an irrational fear of her little brother Gaara (who Naruto instantly disliked for scaring her), and that although she was grateful that he was the reason they'd met, she hated her father with a burning passion for making decisions about her life without even asking her opinion.

They talked about other things, their likes, dislikes, friends, family, and opinions on random subjects, for well over two hours.

Finally, at 8:00 in the morning, Narukomi splashed water on them to wake them up fully before making Temari change into her original light sandy-yellow Suna royalty dress, and then, promptly at 8:45, she dragged Temari out the door.

"Alright, spill it! Tell me what happened! Did you just talk, or did something else happen?" Narukomi demanded as they walked through the already bustling Konoha streets, barely holding back the fact she'd spied on them last night.

"W-well, we did talk- a lot, but earlier we… we um, sort of… kissed," Temari mumbled, barely audible. But Narukomi still heard her, and the next second Temari was locked in Narukomi's arms as she spun her around wildly, squealing like a school girl.

"OH MY GOD! That means you're Naruto's first kiss! Believe me, if he'd had it already, he'd have told me. He can never keep a secret like that for very long!" Narukomi squeaked, twirling faster.

Several villagers stared at the two blondes in surprise as Narukomi continued to twirl about. "Let-go-of-me!" gasped Temari, finally able to separate Narukomi's arms from her shoulders and stumbling back, dizzy.

"Sorry, sorry, I just got excited for a second! Okay, so, did you go any farther than that? Was the kiss good or not? Was it with _tongue?_" Narukomi hissed to Temari quietly.

"No, yes, and no. And there is no way I'm going to do the dirty deed with anyone until I'm married, by the way," Temari said when Narukomi's mouth opened again.

/\/\/\/\

Half an hour later, the two blonde ninja walked into a store called, 'Fashions to Die For', a kunoichi outfit/weaponry of choice shop located in the center of Konoha.

"Well, your dress is cute, but you're going to need a bit of a more subtle outfit if you're going to live here," Narukomi had said after people kept staring at them as they walked to the store.

Temari couldn't agree more; the dress didn't exactly tell anyone she was a ninja, so several guys had tried to wolf-whistle at her before she flipped them off. This store was a true oasis after her fancy royal garb.

After another hour of trying on different outfits of all types, Temari found what she was looking for. It was a single light-purple off-the-shoulder dress that extended halfway down her thighs, with fishnets under it on her arms and legs. The only thing remaining of her original dress was her favorite red sash that held her fan in place.

"That is definitely you, girl," said Narukomi as Temari posed in front of a large mirror. "Thanks. Aren't you getting anything?" asked Temari.

"Well, no, I can't find anything boyish enough for me, but who cares? I don't like dressing up anyway," said Narukomi with a shrug.

Temari shrugged slightly before giving a flirty pose in front of the mirror. "You might want to be careful; Naruto has had plenty of girlfriends, but none as pretty as you. He might faint or something if you do that to him," said Narukomi wisely.

"Who has he dated before?" asked Temari casually, glancing at Narukomi with curious eyes.

"Hmm, not too many for you to be worried. Let's see, there was Nara Shikamine, that girl whose brother Shikamaru is really hot. Then there's Inuzuka Mika, but that didn't last very long since her brother Kiba and Naruto hate each other with a passion.

"Then there was that total whore, Haruno Sakura. She goes and tries to get Naruto to sleep with her, but when he refused she dumped him for our poor teammate Sasuke. After that, he tried Yamanaka Ino, but she eventually dumped him after a fight they had over him thinking she was using him to get close to Sasuke-which she was, actually.

"And recently, he's been dating Hyuga Hinata for about two weeks, but he said a couple days ago that he was considering dumping her because she keeps fainting every time she sees him." Narukomi finished.

Temari gaped at Narukomi as the shock of what she'd said registered. "That Sakura chick tried to get him to_ sleep with her?_ THAT BITCH! If I find her, I'll kill her! Tear her limb from limb!" Temari screeched furiously, startling several of the store's employees and patrons.

"Wow, you've barely known him for about ten hours, and your reaction was that strong. I can already tell you're going to make one hell of a cute couple!" Narukomi giggled as Temari calmed herself down.

Temari turned a light shade of pink but didn't object, making Narukomi grin like a Cheshire cat; which she did well, considering the whisker-marks on her face.

/\/\/\/\

"Why! Why does this have to happen?" wailed Hinata. Naruto cringed as she sobbed into her hands. He'd just told her of his arranged marriage, every detail, but she still wouldn't listen; all she registered was that he was breaking up with her and that he was making up a stupid story to stop her crying.

Suddenly, her hand slapped his face as hard as it possibly could before she snarled, "NARUTO, YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!"

With that, Hinata ran off into an empty street, not caring where she went. Naruto stared after her in surprise and guilt. 'Sorry, but this is no lie,' he thought before walking away.

/\/\/\/\

Kankuro was searching high and low throughout the village of Konoha for one thing: his sister.

After she'd stormed out of the meeting like a violent hurricane, Aizen had said she simply needed time to cool off and think; but Kankuro could tell he'd been worried when she hadn't returned by nightfall, so Kankuro was now wandering the streets, searching for a familiar blonde head in the crowd.

But there was still no sign of her, so he sighed and continued to look in another part of town.

/\/\/\/\

Hyuga Hinata was upset. Really, _really_ upset. She dates a guy for two weeks, and before she knows it he makes up some bullshit story about getting married to a Suna kunoichi in three years.

'What a total bastard! Fine! I'll just find myself a new boyfriend; someone better than Naruto! Yeah, that'll show him!' Hinata thought mutinously as she walked through the streets of Konoha.

Suddenly, a shout caught her attention, "YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Hinata looked up to see three Sand shinobi all gathered around a group of three Leaf Academy students, whom she recognized as Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon.

"W-we're sorry! We didn't mean to run into you, sir!" stuttered Moegi, hiding behind the two boys who did their best to look brave.

The Suna kunoichi on the left said, "Come on, Ryuk, they were just playing around, you don't have to flip out about it."

The middle shinobi, Ryuk, glared at his teammate. "Did I ask for your opinion, Sekai?" he snarled bad temperedly. Sekai glared right back. "If you're going to throw a bitch fit over something like this, we're going to fail the Chunin Exams. Don't be such a hot-headed dumbass."

Their last teammate laughed nervously as the hatred between the other two intensified. "H-hey, guys, can't we at least try to get along, please?" he said good-naturedly.

"Shut up, Ryugamine, you little wuss. Just keep your damn mouth shut and you want get hurt, alright, you little shit?" snarled Ryuk. Ryugamine flinched, backing away and raising his hands a little in surrender.

"Alright, fine! Do whatever! But once Sasomi-sensei and Misaomi-san get back, you're gonna be in one huge pile of shit!" snapped Sekai, turning her back on them and walking away. "RYUGAMINE!"

Ryugamine quickly snapped to attention and followed her at the sound of his name. "Stupid bitch," muttered Ryuk as he picked up Konohamaru by his shirt collar. "Aah! Let me down!" Konohamaru cried, struggling feebly as Ryuk's grip tightened.

"Hey! Leave Konohamaru alone!" shouted Hinata, running up to Ryuk, prepared to jab him with a Gentle Fist strike. But she never reached him.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

They all froze as two other Sand shinobi appeared. "Ah, Misaomi, Kankuro, what a surprise," said Ryuk as politely as he could get, dropping Konohamaru to the ground.

"Hey, Ryuk. Acting like the world's ultimate bitch once again," said the kunoichi on the left, Misaomi. "Shut up, Misaomi! As if you're better then me!" snarled Ryuk back at her.

"I _am_ better than you, Ryuk. I might have the same temper as you do, but at least I don't go around picking fights with defenseless kids like you do." Misaomi sighed, grinning at Ryuk's outraged face.

"THAT'S IT, BITCH!" he snarled, and, barreling right past Hinata, lunged at Misaomi with a kunai in hand.

"Wind Style: Wind Wall Jutsu!"

WHAM!

Ryuk went flying backwards into the wall of the alleyway to the astonishment of everyone except Misaomi, who turned with an unsurprised look, saying, "About time you got here, Tema-chan. Do you realize how long Kankuro and I have been looking for you?"

At the other end of the alleyway, fan out and ready to hit someone else, was Temari, with Narukomi just behind her laughing, "Oh yeah! Look at'cha! You were spouting that good shit just a second ago; then you got slammed into a wall, bitch! What you deserve, oh yeah!"

_A/N: Ahahaha, Boondocks moment! Okay, hope you enjoyed!  
>-Temari-chan. <em>


	5. Old Teammates

"Score! Konoha: one, Suna: zero!" cried Narukomi, laughing as Ryuk got back up, disoriented. "Oh, shut up! I'm still technically from Suna, you know!" Temari snapped as she replaced her fan to its red sash.

"Yo, Temari, long time no see!" said Misaomi, grinning at her. Temari returned the grin. "Hey, Misaomi. Good to see ya." Temari said.

"T-Temari, what the hell? Where were you last night; dad almost blew a fuse!" gasped Kankuro as she turned to him with an annoyed look on her face.

"Hey, hey, Temari-onee-san, who are these people? Friends from Suna?" asked Narukomi. "Yes. This is Ryuk, a member of team 23 from my village, and these are Kankuro and Misaomi. Kankuro is my younger brother and Misaomi is my best friend," sighed Temari.

"Oh cool. Wait a second! Now that you live here, does that mean you're going to be on my team?" Narukomi asked. "I guess, I don't know," said Temari with a shrug.

"YAY! That means I'll have both onee-san _and _onii-san on my team!" cried Narukomi, flinging her arms around Temari and choking half the life out of her.

"Temari, who the heck is this; and why does she keep calling you onee-san?" asked Kankuro, thoroughly confused.

"Uh, duh, I'm calling her onee-san because she _is _my onee-san; I mean, she's marrying _my _brother, after all," said Narukomi after Temari managed to pry her off of her neck. Both Kankuro and Ryuk gaped at her, but Misaomi didn't look too impressed.

"So, where were you last night?" asked Misaomi mischievously. "At the Uzumaki's apartment. They were nice enough to let me spend the night there. And before you even ask, nothing bad happened," said Temari, cutting off both Kankuro and Misaomi.

"Oh, by the by, you can stay at our apartment anytime and as long as you like, onee-san!" cried Narukomi, hugging Temari again but not choking her this time. "Thanks. Now, GET OFF!" Temari snapped, once again prying her off.

Temari turned to Misaomi. "You're here for the Chunin Exams, right?" she asked. "Yep, about goddamn time too; my old Konoha instructor wouldn't let me take it because I'm a Jinchuriki, but he better watch out! I'll kick his student's asses as soon as I see them!" Misaomi snarled.

"Ugh, I know; I had to beg Kakashi-sensei to let me and Naruto compete," growled Narukomi. Misaomi squinted at her.

"Wait a second; Uzumaki Narukomi? I remember you! You were the only one back at the Konoha Ninja Academy who really talked to me! Remember me? Yamanaka Misaomi, I'm the girl who kept stealing test answers from Iruka-sensei's desk!" Misaomi exclaimed.

"Yamanaka….. Yamanaka….. OH MY GOD IT'S YOU, MISAOMI!" screamed Narukomi, finally remembering and leaping onto Misaomi in a huge bear hug.

"Ah, Narukomi, you're psychotic tendencies never cease to amaze me," said a voice. Now everyone turned to see Naruto and a raven-haired boy enter the alleyway.

"Onii-san, Sasuke-chan, what's up?" Narukomi asked, letting go of Misaomi. Sasuke's lip curled at the '-chan' suffix, but he said, "I just wanted to meet Naruto's new Suna fiancée my sister Tsukiyomi told me about, especially since she's probably on our team now."

Temari glanced at Narukomi, who gave her a 'don't-worry-he's-usually-less-of-an-asshole' look before Temari stepped forward.

"Sabaku no Temari, first daughter and child of the Fourth Kazekage," she said formally. "Uchiha Sasuke, second son and third child of the 32nd Uchiha clan head." Sasuke returned the greeting before shaking her hand.

While this exchange was going on, Kankuro walked up to Naruto. "So you're the kid who's marrying my sister?" he said menacingly. Instead of backing down, Naruto said, "Sorry, pal, but even if I wanted to change that fact, I couldn't. Besides, why wouldn't I want to marry someone as nice, sweet, and funny as Temari?"

This made everyone gape in surprise at Naruto's bold step, although Temari blushed a hot pink at the compliment.

A second later, Misaomi was restraining Kankuro from trying to punch Naruto a second time, the first almost breaking his nose. "Calm down, damn it! He meant it as a compliment!" gasped Misaomi as he struggled.

"I don't care! I don't like this punk!" snarled Kankuro, glaring at Naruto as he wiped blood from his nose.

SLAP!

The sound rang around the alleyway for several seconds. Everyone present stared at Temari as she stood toe-to-toe with her younger brother, eyes full of rage, hand raised to hit him again.

"Don't you ever-ever- hit him again! Do you hear me, Kankuro? Never again! I don't care what you do to me or anyone else; you will never hit my fiancée again!" Temari snarled with a look on her face that would've scared an S-class shinobi shitless.

"Well?" Temari barked. "Y-yes, onee-sama, of course I won't hit him again!" stammered Kankuro, utter terror covering his face.

"Good!" Temari snapped before spinning on her heel and walking over to Naruto. "Come on, it's not much but I know a couple healing jutsus to fix your nose," she said, dragging him with her outside the alley.

/\/\/\/\

Once outside the alley, Temari sat Naruto down on a bench and began healing his nose. After a few minutes she said, "There, all done."

Naruto rubbed his still aching nose as Temari continued, "Sorry you had to see me like that. Most guys hate it when their girlfriend seems tougher than them."

Naruto grinned at her. "It doesn't matter to me if you're tougher. If it did matter to me, then Kankuro would be right about me being a punk!" "And we can't let Kankuro win!" Temari laughed, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Besides, you weren't all that scary; you should see Narukomi on her period. Talk about seriously scary shit- OW!" Naruto was interrupted by Narukomi hitting him on the head. "Don't talk about me like that, nii-san!" she snarled.

Temari grinned and said, "Either way, thanks for making me feel better." And with that, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, raising a grin from Narukomi.

"Oooooh, love on a bench!" said Misaomi as she joined Narukomi. "Shut up!" both Naruto and Temari snapped.

"Oh hey, I just remembered; Naruto, aren't you supposed to meet Temari's father today at noon?" Narukomi asked suddenly. "Oh, shit!" exclaimed Naruto, face-palming himself.

"Ugh, I don't want to see my dad!" groaned Temari. "Too bad, Temari!" said Misaomi, grinning.

/\/\/\/\

Despite complaining the whole way there, Naruto and Temari were soon dragged by Narukomi and Misaomi all the way to the Hokage Tower. With both fiancées held prisoner, they dragged them up to the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade-baa-sama, we brought a present for you!" cried Narukomi, shoving Naruto in before Misaomi did the same with Temari.

Both the Hokage and Kazekage looked shocked, as if they'd just been arguing about them before they came in.

"You're both dead when we get out of here!" Temari shouted as their escorts slammed the door shut, laughing.

"Ahem."

The duo turned to see Tsunade and Aizen staring at them with raised eyebrows. "So, how did this happen?" asked Tsunade.

Temari glanced at Naruto before saying, "It's a long story."

_A/N: That's another chapter done! Be ready; in the next chapter, we say hello to some new characters I created! Anyway, hope you enjoyed!  
><em>_-Temari-chan.:)_


	6. Love Poem

A teenage redheaded girl sat at the back of a wagon, dangling her legs over the side and playing a tune on her silver flute, eyes watching the clouds lazily. Beside her was a bag of ninja tools and sketchpads, the pockets on the sides full of shuriken, kunai and black markers. Several birds followed the wagon, singing along with her flute, making her smile.

"Shion."

The girl turned at the sound of her name, stopping mid-note to the disappointment of the birds. She tilted her head in an unspoken question to her teammate, Inoue Kanade. "We're almost there. Shinji-sensei told me to get everyone ready," he said.

Shion nodded in understanding, then raised one hand, signing, "_I'm ready, Inoue-san, no need to worry._"

Kanade nodded and said, "Right, we'll be in Konoha in about fifteen minutes. Just hang tight." He looked ready to say something else, but instead he turned away. As she turned back to the road, Kazane Shion of the Hidden Sound Village grinned to herself at the thought of entering her first Chunin Exam. 'Oh, how fun this will be!' she thought as the wagon lumbered on.

/\/\/\/\

Inoue Kanade mentally smacked himself as he turned away from Shion. 'I mustn't think that way about a teammate!' he thought. But he couldn't help it. From the time he'd first met her, three months ago, he'd been absolutely infatuated with her.

Her hair was red like blood, but her blue eyes were gentle and caring, not at all like her twin sister's or her cousin's. Shion, so quiet and calm, couldn't help that she was related to two psychos. Her twin Mion was absolutely crazy, and her cousin Tayuya never stopped swearing.

But that didn't matter. What did matter was that Shion had stolen Kanade's heart in less than three months without even trying. And this wasn't one of those stupid Academy day crushes you changed every few weeks; this was real, pure, mind-altering love that only came around once in a lifetime.

The worst part about it; he barely knew her. Sure, they were on the same team, but it wasn't like she said everything about herself. Well, in truth, she'd never _said_ anything to him; she was mute.

That was the reason most guys back in the Hidden Sound had ignored her, because she just couldn't cut it without a voice; her twin Mion, on the other hand, had Shion's looks and a voice to match, so she was often flooded by men she usually beat the crap out of.

That was basically all he knew about her; that she had a twin and a cousin, that she didn't go out much, and besides that, she was smart, funny, cute, sweet, great to be around, and a genjutsu specialist to boot. Even if she couldn't speak, he wanted to be around her all the time.

Kanade didn't care if she didn't say a word. He'd loved her from the moment he'd met her, and absolutely nothing could change that fact; not fate, not Satan, not even God could change the way he felt about her.

Every moment he spent with her felt too short, every moment away from her felt too long.

The downside; as far as he could tell, her feelings for him were strictly professional. She still called him 'Inoue-san' even after three months, still acted politely towards him and their other teammates. She did joke around occasionally, though it was often after their teammates Ikkaku or Zasamo started it.

Whenever he was alone with her, she would leave before he confess anything to her, and the one single time he'd managed to ask her out, Ikkaku(the bastard) had tagged along.

So, poor Kanade would just have to suffer and wait.

/\/\/\/\

Shion played a song called 'Closer' on her flute one-handed, shifting through her bag with her free hand until she found her team's photograph. They were all there; their sensei, Shinji, her teammates Ikkaku, Zasamo, and Kanade, and her, with her twin sister Mion in the background giving her and Kanade bunny ears.

Shion smiled as she stuck the photo in her pocket as she turned to see the gates of Konoha coming toward them. This time the smile became a wide grin. What a grand adventure this would be!

/\/\/\/\

After the Sound shinobi showed their passports and registrations to the gatekeepers, they were allowed into the village, ditching the wagon after the man they'd been riding with had to head to the trade posts.

They arrived at the inn they were staying at quickly enough. "Alright, you guys go do…. Whatever it is you do. I gotta go report to the Hokage that we're here," said Shinji, waving his hand at them.

Shion suddenly raised her hand. Shinji waited patiently as she scribbled down on a sketchpad, "_May I go with you, Shinji-sensei? The Hokage is one of the Sannin; she's a legend! Can I meet her?_"

"You sound like you're a little girl, asking permission like that," said Shinji pointedly. Shion wrote, "_Please, tou-san?_" Then she batted her eyelashes to seal the deal.

"Oh fine, your mom would get pissed if I didn't keep you happy." Shinji said with a grin at his daughter. And with that, the two walked through Konoha.

/\/\/\/\

*knock, knock*

"Come in." "Yo, Tsunade-sama! What's up?" Shinji called as he entered the Hokage's office, Shion following timidly behind him.

"Hello Shinji-san, how're you doing? Misumi still beating your ass every other day?" asked Tsunade with a smirk. "Yes, and this is what she got out of it," said Shinji, pointing behind him at Shion, who quickly ducked behind her father.

"This is…..?" asked Aizen. He, Temari, and Naruto had all been discussing marriage details when they were interrupted.

"Oh, this is Kazane Shinji of the Hidden Sound Village. He used to be an old gambling pal of mine before I was Hokage," answered Tsunade, "Though who the girl is, I'm guessing she's your student?"

"And daughter," corrected Shinji as Shion wrote down, "_It is a true honor to meet you, Tsunade-sama, Aizen-sama. I hope we aren't interrupting anything._" Shion bowed as she held up her message.

Tsunade actually burst out laughing. "They let in a ninja who's as nice as this and who can't even talk? Your leader must be some piece of work!" she laughed.

Shinji grinned. "Laugh while you can. I truly feel sorry for whoever goes up against her for the Exams. She's an illusion and torture specialist, so your genin better watch their backs!" He countered easily.

"_T-Tou-san! I'm not that good! Well, I'm better than most, but nowhere near your level yet!_" Shion frantically scribbled on her sketchpad, making Shinji laugh. After he was done, he pulled out a packet of papers and handed them to Tsunade.

"Our files, formal state of business, passports, registrations, the works. We also still need to be assigned escorts; we are, after all, your guests. Just to make sure we're all set," he said, waving his hand nonchalantly.

"Right, I have a team ready for you. Shizune!" Tsunade called. Her assistant quickly appeared in the doorway. "Please call the other members of Team 7. I have a mission for them." Tsunade said.

Five minutes later, Narukomi, Sasuke, and Kakashi appeared in the doorway as well. "Yeah, Tsunade?" asked Kakashi.

"You and your team, which will be taking on Temari here, are to escort Shinji's team while they are in our village during the Chunin Exams." Tsunade said, pointing to Shinji and Shion.

"Alright," said Kakashi. Sasuke grunted while Narukomi squealed, "Mission!" Temari and Naruto didn't seem too excited, so they shrugged.

"Right, cool," said Shinji, walking toward the door. But Shion stayed behind for a moment, writing something quickly. She stepped forward, holding out a small object. It was a small silver whistle in the shape of the Konoha leaf insignia.

"_On behalf of my village, the Hidden Sound, I'd like you to accept this gift of appreciation for letting us participate in the Chunin Exams for the first time since our founding over two years ago. Thank you, Tsunade-sama._" It said.

Shion bowed again, handing Tsunade the whistle before leaving with a confused Team 7 and a smirking Shinji.

Tsunade stared at the whistle in surprise, then smiled and put it in her pocket. 'She really is too nice to be a shinobi,' she thought.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be too long before Tsunade found out how wrong that thought was.

_A/N: Two chapters in one day, woot! Anyway, my muse helped me with this one, I almost didn't know what to write. When the muse tells you something, you listen; don't fight the muse, never fight the muse... Okay, chapter 7 coming soon, don't expect this to happen every day!  
>Temari-chan:).<em>


	7. Migraine

"So how long do we have to tail these guys?" asked Narukomi as she followed her team, who followed the Sound ninja back to their inn. "Until the Chunin Exams start, which will be in a week," answered Kakashi.

"_Sorry to be so much trouble,"_ wrote Shion, holding the sketchpad over her shoulder so they could read it. "Oh, it's no problem. This is way better than all the D-ranked missions we've been getting lately." Kakashi assured her. Shion smiled at him gratefully.

"Ah, ah, ah, no flirting with the escort Shion. And you-" Shinji pointed threateningly at Kakashi, "Keep away from my daughter. That goes for all of you," he said, raising his voice so both Naruto and Sasuke heard.

"Whatever. Naruto will be no trouble considering he's engaged to our teammate Temari," said Sasuke, earning him a punch on the head from Naruto and Temari. "What? It's the truth!"

That, of course, earned him another pair of bruises. Shion looked at them both curiously. "_You're engaged at such a young age? Why?_" she wrote, showing them her question.

"I think we should leave our village's political negotiations out of the conversation." Kakashi said warningly. Shion nodded in understanding, but kept looking back at the pair curiously.

"Hey, Shion!"

The group turned to see a Sound kunoichi running up to them, her apparent escort chasing after her. "_Hello, Kin. Long time no see,_" Shion wrote as the kunoichi caught up to them.

Kin grinned and pulled the girl into a bear hug that could've cracked her lungs. "It's been so long! Three months, and not a single letter! You dummy, I told you to write to me every week!" she snapped, angry and happy at the same time.

"_Sorry. I was busy training with Tayuya to master the flute genjutsu._" Shion wrote, blinking away chibi tears. "Whatever. So, are these people your escorts?" Kin asked, glancing at the Konoha ninja.

Shion nodded. "Hey!" They turned at the shout to see Nara Shikamine, Kin's escort, finally catching up to them. "Why do all Sound ninja have to run so fast? This is getting even more and more troublesome as time goes on!" Shikamine gasped as she caught up to them.

"Hey Shikamine, you alright? You look like your lung burst or something," said Narukomi. "Thank you for that observation, Narukomi-san," said Shikamine scathingly as she caught her breath.

"Are we going to go back to the hotel or not?" complained Shinji. "_Ah, yes, sorry tou-san!_" wrote Shion, "_You wanna come Kin?_" "Hell yes I wanna come! I need to make sure that idiot boyfriend of mine Ikkaku didn't find another girlfriend already!" Kin exclaimed loudly.

/\/\/\/\

They reached the inn ten minutes later to find Zasamo passed out on the couch, Ikkaku gone and Kanade polishing and cleaning his small harp. "Oh, hey Shinji-sensei, Shion-san, K-Kin-san? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Ikkaku, where is he?" snapped Kin. "Don't know. He left awhile ago to find somewhere to fix his violin strings. They broke again." said Kanade.

Shinji rolled his eyes before saying, "Whatever, we can't leave the inn without one of our new escorts, so Kanade, wake Zasamo and go find him. We can't have him getting us in trouble."

"_I'll go too,_" wrote Shion as Kanade whacked Zasamo on the head to wake him up. "Fine, choose an escort and go." said Shinji, sitting on the couch and pulling out a book to read.

Kin left with Shikamine to look for Ikkaku elsewhere. Kanade took along Sasuke and Naruto, Shion took Temari, and Zasamo stuck with Narukomi. Kakashi just stayed behind reading his stupid 'Icha Icha Paradise'.

/\/\/\/\

"_Where should we look first?_" asked Shion, writing quickly in her flowing script. "Sorry, I have no idea. I just moved to this village two days ago, so I don't know it that well," said Temari, thinking, 'Damn, I should've gone with Naruto.'

"_Oh, that's okay. We'll just ask for directions then._" wrote Shion.

They searched the shops Temari knew for awhile, but after a while that proved useless. "Sorry for being a useless guide," said Temari after their seventh failure. "_It's really okay. I don't mind at all; Ikkaku is the idiot that always disappears at the worst possible times._" Shion scribbled, grinning at Temari as they continued.

They eventually ran into Zasamo and Narukomi outside a music store on the edge of town. "You getting sick and tired of this too?" asked Zasamo. Both Temari and Shion nodded sheepishly.

Suddenly a yell echoed down the street,

"IKKAKU, GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SON OF A BITCH!"

The group turned to see Kin chasing after Ikkaku, who seemed to be trying to pull out a violin in his pack. "I can't help it you took so long to find me!" he called back at Kin.

"You'll pay for making me run all over town to find you just to find you with another girl!" Kin screeched angrily. "She's my cousin, goddamn it!" Ikkaku defended himself, barely dodging a pair of Konoha citizens as he ran.

Temari sighed and pulled her fan out of her sash. "I'll stop them before they end up knocking into some ANBU or something else that could get them killed," she sighed.

But before she could even move, a high piercing note that would've deafened a bat stopped everyone in their tracks. Kin and Ikkaku skidded to a halt, covering their ears.

Temari dropped her fan, cringing as her eyes filled with tears at the sharp pain piercing her head at the sound. 'What the hell is that?' she thought. And as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

Ikkaku dropped his hands and snapped, "Okay Shion, I know we were being stupid, but GEEZ! I hate it when you do that!" Temari, surprised, turned to see Shion returning her flute to her bag with an innocent expression on her face.

"_You're the idiots that wouldn't stop fighting._" wrote Shion with an irritated expression on her face. "I know, but the Searing Migraine Jutsu for something like this? You must be in one foul mood," sighed Kin.

Shion nodded, before spinning around and stalking away. Temari, with nothing else to do, followed her back to the inn.

_A/N: Wow, this one was so short! I'm sorry about how crappy it is; my muse, unfortunately, took a vacation during this chapter, so I didn't have much inspiration for it, so don't be too mad that it sucks. Anyway, the next chapter should just be filler crap before the Chunin Exams, so bear with me a little longer!  
><em>_-Temari-chan.:)_


	8. Week Before

After the incident with Ikkaku, the week began to inch by slowly. Kin's team often came by to drag her off to training. Temari got to know the rest of Team 7 better. Shion became a favorite at the park, where she'd often go to practice playing her flute.

The Chunin Exams slowly inched closer, and the adventure that Temari had been waiting for was coming.

_A/N: I honestly hope I never have a shorter chapter than this one. I just wanted the week before the Chunin Exams to get out of the way, and I couldn't think of anything longer. Okay, next chapter we dive into Part 1 of the Chunin Exams! WooHoo!  
><em>_-Temari-san :)._


	9. Registration

"Temari…. Temari! Wake up! The Chunin Exams start today!" Temari groaned at the sound of Narukomi's voice in her ear.

"Is this another one of your sick jokes? Because if I open my eyes and it's not time for the Chunin Exams yet, I'll kill you." Temari muttered. "I'm not joking! I swear!" Narukomi squealed excitedly.

Temari sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes in the sunlight. "Did you have to open the drapes?" Temari complained. For the last week she'd been sleeping over at the Uzumaki residence with Narukomi. "Course I had to! You wouldn't wake up!" Narukomi said, spinning in place in front of the bed.

"Ooooh, this is so exciting! I didn't go to the Chunin Exams last year; I can't wait for it!" Narukomi spun faster, almost tripping on several things as she did so. "Okay, okay, keep your head on. Let's get dressed before you fall out the window," Temari suggested.

/\/\/\/\

Ten minutes later Temari and Narukomi left their room to find Naruto nervously twiddling a kunai in his fingers. "You okay?" Temari asked, sitting next to him on the couch. "Sure, if you can say being sick to your stomach is okay," grumbled Naruto, turning slightly green.

Temari smiled at him reassuringly. "Oh, come on, you can't back out now. Look, it'll be fine. I took the Chunin Exams once last year, and it was fine. I can guarantee that we'll all be fine," Temari said, putting her hand over his.

"Just calm down," she said with a grin. Naruto smiled back. "Thanks. You definitely know how to keep down my nerves; who knows, maybe we will make it through these Exams," he said.

Temari giggled before leaning forward and quickly pecking Naruto on the cheek. "That's the spirit!" she said before standing. "Well, what are we waiting for? If we stay here any longer, Narukomi is going to throw herself out the window. Let's go!"

/\/\/\/\

Sasuke was waiting for them at their usual meeting spot in town. "Alright, now that you're finally here, we can go register ourselves," he said, walking off toward the Academy. "Little bastard," muttered Narukomi as they followed.

/\/\/\/\

They arrived to the Academy to find a pair of older shinobi standing in front of the Exam room. "You snot-nosed brats are never going to make it in the Chunin Exams!" they jeered at the group of genin that were trying to pass them.

"Yo, are you about done terrorizing children? We have business on the third floor; get out of our way," said Sasuke, leading the way past the pair. As he did so, an illusion melted, revealing the stairway to the real Exam application room.

"Wow, such a simple illusion stumped just about everyone here; Leaf genin are really pathetic," said Kin as she and her team walked through. All the Leaf genin stiffened at her insult. "Kin, quit acting like a bitch," snapped Temari.

"Ah, sorry, just making an observation, Temari-chan. I wasn't referring to your team; you seem to be well prepared for this Exam." said Kin with a wide grin.

Suddenly Shion and her team entered the application corridor. "_Are you causing trouble again, Kin?_" asked Shion with a slight glare. Kin grinned and said, "You know it, Shion-san. Oh, and just so you know, your sister arrived here this morning; you should keep an eye out for her."

"_Thanks Kin. Now let's hurry up and apply before these Leaf genin tear you apart,_" said Shion before they all headed to the registration room.

/\/\/\/\

"SHION!" That single scream was the only warning the group had that Shion's twin sister Mion had arrived. And the next second Shion was on the ground, being half-hugged, half-crushed by her identical twin. "_Hello, Mion._" Shion wrote once Mion was done crushing her.

"THIS IS SO EXCITING! WE FINALLY GET TO COMPETE IN THE CHUNIN EXAMS! HELL YEAH!" Mion yelled loudly as she climbed off of Shion.

'She reminds me of the Uzumaki twins,' Temari thought with a smile. Kin and her group and Ikkaku and Zasamo had split off from their group earlier, deciding to go the Exams early.

Shion and Mion walked along at the end of the group, Shion quietly scribbling while Mion chatted loudly. Temari and Naruto glanced at each other before rolling their eyes; this was going to be one hell of a long Exam.

"Sasuke-kun!" cried a voice. Sasuke groaned before stopping and turning to see a pink-haired, green-eyed girl running up to him with two boys that looked like her teammates following her.

"Hey, Sakura, what's up?" asked Sasuke as she ran up to him. "It's been so long, Sasuke-kun! How have you been?" asked Sakura as her teammates caught up. Narukomi waved to one of them; he grinned back.

"I've been fine, Sakura. Listen, can this wait? We were heading to the Exam room-" "Oh, really? We were heading there too! Let's walk together!" said Sakura enthusiastically, grabbing Sasuke's arm and dragging him forward.

Temari looked quizzically to Naruto, who whispered, "She's kind of like his stalker fan girl. It's been like this since our Academy days." Temari giggled, staring sympathetically at the back of Sasuke's head.

Narukomi quickly fell into step beside Sakura's teammate. "So, how's life going, Kensai? Still suckish?" asked Narukomi. Kensai grinned and said, "Living hell with Sakura on my team. And Kon's no help either."

Narukomi smiled at him and said, "Sorry to hear that. So, you think you're ready for the Exams?" "Honestly, I think we're all going to die," sighed Kensai. "Same here; or at least, I thought that before Temari-san joined our team. We just might make it out alive because of her; she's too kick-ass to let any of us die out there," Narukomi laughed.

After a few more minutes of walking they reached the Exam room doors. "You guys ready?" Temari asked her team. "Not really," said Naruto with a shrug.

"Good; open the doors!" cried Narukomi.

And the doors to the Chunin Exams opened.

_A/N: Oh my god, this chapter sucks. I admit it and know it. I just want to get to the Forest of Death; that's when the real shit starts happening. Anyway, bear with me just a little longer. It's not long now!  
>-Temari-chan.:)<em>


	10. Powerful Opponents

Temari slowly cracked her knuckles as they entered the Exam room. Just about every other genin (some of them well into their teens) was staring at their group. 'I get it; analyze the new meat before the Exams really start,' thought Temari as she shuffled closer to Naruto.

Suddenly, Temari caught a kunai knife inches from her face. The crowd began to mutter uneasily; who would challenge the newbie's right off the bat? "Whoa!" cried Naruto as she caught it. Temari grinned wickedly.

"A little hasty, aren't we? I would've thought you'd try to get me once there were no witnesses," said Temari. A snicker came from the crowd, and Sekai from the other Sand team stepped forward. "Nice catch," she said.

Temari tossed the kunai back to her. "You shouldn't do that out of nowhere; people might get the wrong idea," said Temari with a grin. "Well, how else am I supposed to greet my friend when she hasn't talked to me in a week? Especially when she's supposed to be getting mixed into an arranged marriage!" Sekai snapped accusingly.

Temari rolled her eyes before stepping up to Sekai with a murderous look in her eye. They stood like that, glaring potent murderous intent at each other for several minutes, before Sekai snickered and Temari grinned. "Good to see ya, ya pansy!" Sekai laughed, hugging Temari. "You too, ya bimbo!" laughed Temari, returning the hug.

The whole crowd looked confused for a second, before dismissing the action as nothing more than a joke between friends. "Uh, Temari, who's the chick that looks like she could rip Sasuke's dick off?" asked Narukomi, earning her a smack on the head from Sasuke and Sakura.

"This is Sekai, an old pal of mine. Sekai, this is my new team and some friends from the Hidden Sound village," said Temari, motioning to the rest of the group.

"Cool. Now could you do us all a favor and _shut up_?" asked a voice. Temari turned to see a silver-haired kid approximately her age walk up to them. "Who are you, brat?" snapped Sekai.

"Kabuto Yakushi," he said, "And I suggest you quiet down. The group behind you is from the Hidden Rain village; best not to piss them off. They're touchy."

Temari had ignored the killing intent coming from the Amegakure ninja until now, and she glanced at them with an unconcerned look. "So what? I don't care if they do attack us; if they even try, they'll be dead before they can do anything," said Temari, loud enough for the Ame nin to hear her.

"Wow. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" asked Kabuto with a grin. "No. I'm just not afraid of wusses who can't even make a chill go down my back with their strongest killing intent; that's all," said Temari with a shrug, a grin coming to her face.

"I'll take it this is your guy's first Exam, huh?" asked Kabuto. Naruto and Narukomi nodded. "How long have you been trying?" asked Sakura.

"Four years; this is my seventh try." Kabuto said nonchalantly. "Why, are you talentless? It can't possibly be that hard to get through the Chunin Exams if there are so many Chunin running around," said Sekai with a bored expression on her face. Kabuto glared at her.

"This is your first try, right? Then you have absolutely no idea how hard this test is, do you?" Kabuto asked. Sekai shrugged. "My friend Misaomi took it last year; said it was easy. The only reason she didn't make it to the preliminaries was her teammates got taken down in the second part of the exam. Bunch of sissies if you ask me," she sighed.

Kabuto took out a card from a pile he'd had in his pouch. "You're Sekai of the Ishida clan, right?" he asked. He put the card on the ground and poured some chakra into it, making a small profile of Sekai show up.

Kabuto read it aloud, "Ishida Sekai, age 14, weapon jutsu specialist, genjutsu is passable, taijutsu is barely passable, and has been on 13 D-ranked missions and 20 C-ranked missions. Teammates are Toyohashi Ryugamine and Nikamo Ryuk." "How'd you get that information?" snapped Sekai.

"Easy. I've been collecting these Ninja Info Cards for a while now. I fill them with information from my father's friends about genin from other villages. If you need information on any genin from a specific village, you need to come to me," said Kabuto.

Naruto and his teammates, as well as several other listening in genin gaped at Kabuto in awe. "Anyone you guys are looking to find out more about?" Kabuto offered with a sly grin.

Hinata, who'd been listening in with her team, said, "The genin from the Sand village you haven't listed yet. I have a hunch they're pretty powerful."

"Right you are, my dear," said Kabuto with a grin. He pulled out four cards. The first showed Temari's other friend, Misaomi.

"Right, Yamanaka Misaomi, age 15, former genin of the Hidden Leaf village, currently a genin of the Hidden Sand village. Ran away from Konoha when she was twelve. A wind-style fighter, fights with a fan and has also acquired the skills of a puppet master. The puppet master prodigy of the village, it is unclear how many she can control at one time. Other than that, it says she's pretty decent with genjutsu and taijutsu, and she's been on 0 D-ranked missions, 34 C-ranked missions, and- wow! 12 B-ranked missions! This girl's one tough cookie!" Kabuto said in surprise.

"What about the others?" asked Kiba, Hinata's teammate.

Kabuto laid out the other three, depicting Temari and her brothers.

"The Sand Siblings, the three children of the Fourth Kazekage. The oldest, Temari, is a wind-style fighter like Misaomi, even uses the same fan techniques, though she's better at taijutsu than Misaomi is. Recently involved in a political marriage with a kid from Konoha, they're getting married in three years, and she's now currently a Leaf ninja instead. And, 0 D-ranked missions, 27 C-ranked missions, and 14 B-ranked missions.

"The second oldest is Kankuro, a puppet master, his ninjutsu is passable, but his genjutsu and taijutsu are certainly lacking. He's been on 0 D-ranked missions, 27 C-ranked missions, and 10 B-ranked missions.

"Last but not least is Gaara, the youngest. Not much is known about this guy other than the fact that he's come back from every mission he's been one without a single scratch. All in all, quite an impressive group," said Kabuto, grinning wickedly.

"What genin are there that have caught your fancy in Konoha?" asked Kanade, looking sideways at Temari and Sekai, who both grinned. "Not many; though there's a rumor I heard that there are actually a couple Jinchuriki in this year's batch of genin; two from Konoha, two from Suna, and actually one from the Sound as well," Kabuto said.

"Whoa, who?" asked Ino, another Leaf genin who'd been listening. "The Uzumakis, Naruto and Narukomi from Konoha, Gaara and Misaomi from Suna, and I still don't know who the one from Sound is, but they're supposed to be good," answered Kabuto.

All the Leaf genin all gaped at Naruto and Narukomi, but they ignored them. "I also heard that the Leaf's prodigies, Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke are participating this year after training for an extra year before trying," said Kabuto, looking at Sasuke with a small smile.

Sasuke smirked but didn't reply to the compliment, while Sakura and Ino both squealed about how cool he was.

Suddenly, a poof of smoke announced the arrival of the proctors fro the Exam. "Alright, that's enough chit-chat!" yelled the head proctor, "I am Morino Ibiki, the proctor and head examiner for the first part of the Exam. Everyone take a seat and shut your traps!"

_A/N: Hrrm, nothing exciting right now, but that's the way it is until the second Exam. Just live with the stupidity for a little while longer; it's not far away! Oh, and don't forget to check out my profile for my poll; I want your opinions on where the story should go!  
><em>_-Temari-san_


	11. The First Exam

Temari, Naruto, Narukomi, and Sasuke were each split up across the Exam room, each at least eight seats away from each other. Ibiki gave them a quick round of instructions for the Exam before they were told to begin on the written test.

'So, basically, they give us near impossible questions and expect us to cheat and not get caught by the other proctors,' Temari thought with a smile. She'd interpreted the instructions easily once Ibiki had finished explaining. She just hoped her teammates figured it out as well.

/\/\/\/\

Just behind Temari, Yamanaka Misaomi sat pondering what she should do. 'That one guy is inspecting this section, so no hand signs for now. I guess I'll just use my ace in the hole,' she thought, grinning wickedly.

While pretending to write with her right hand, Misaomi reached her left hand under the desk. With an expert flicker of chakra, Misaomi had invisible chakra strings come out of her fingers.

Without even wasting a minute, she reached out with the strings and latched onto the pencil of the genin several seats away from her. Feeling the tug and pull on the strings, Misaomi's grin widened as she wrote down every answer.

'This kid's the jackpot! The answers even make sense with the questions!' Misaomi thought as she filled in each blank. Once finished, she deftly released the chakra strings.

'Alright, now I just give these to Temari!' she thought, smiling again and checking the proctors once again. 'Good. He's looking away from me; now's the time to do it!'

Loading her chakra, Misaomi made a hand sign so fast nobody could've seen it. 'Right, take care of my body, San! _Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu!_ Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!' Misaomi thought.

Her mind quickly slipped out of her body, shooting forward and hitting Temari, making her flinch in her seat, but Misaomi quickly took control. She wrote down each answer on Temari's paper before making another quick hand sign and thinking, '_Kai!_ Release!'

/\/\/\/\

Temari blinked in surprise as Misaomi left her body. 'I hate it when she does that without warning me!... But I love it when she gives me free answers!' she thought with a grin.

/\/\/\/\

Halfway across the room, Narukomi sighed in boredom. She'd taken an advanced class in the Academy and already knew all the answers to the 'difficult' questions.

Quickly, she wrote each answer down on an extremely thin piece of paper and then wrapped the paper around a senbon needle. With a forward flick of her fingers, she sent it sailing forward, only to have it caught by Naruto, who was five seats ahead of her. He gave a thumbs up, making Narukomi grin.

/\/\/\/\

Yamanaka Ino had already answered all the questions on her test thanks to Haruno Sakura sitting there like a dope, a perfect target for the mind-transfer technique known only to the Yamanaka clan. But now she had something else to be worried about; the boy she was sitting next to.

'This is the kid that guy Kabuto was talking about, Sabaku no Gaara!' she thought, glancing sideways at him. He had blue eyes, red hair, and a tattoo of the character of 'love' on the left side of his forehead.

'He's kind of….cute….. NO! No! I can't think that way about him! Father said Jinchuriki are usually unstable and dangerous! I CANNOT think that way about him!' Ino mentally slapped herself.

/\/\/\/\

Gaara noticed the eyes of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty sitting next to him, but unlike usual, he didn't feel irritated by it. 'Hmf, even if I had a sliver of feeling for her, she'd just hate me for what I am,' he thought with an inward sigh of loneliness.

/\/\/\/\

Sakura sighed dreamily as she watched Sasuke use his Sharingan to get the answers he needed. 'The Uchiha really are amazing!' she sighed inwardly, not even noticing the guy on her other side looking at her answer sheet.

/\/\/\/\

"Wow, that was amazingly easy!" Narukomi yawned as the test finished and the last of the dead lasts were tossed out of the Exam room.

Ibiki was busy explaining the skills they needed to spy as a Chunin. "Blah, blah, blah, get on with it already!" Temari grumbled quietly as he continued droning on and on.

Suddenly, the window of the Exam room shattered, bringing with it a flurry of fabric as a banner was launched in with a woman. Kunai knives at the edges of the banner lodged in place, unfurling it to say, 'Newly Arrived Second Chief Examination Officer Mitarashi Anko!'

"Alright, you maggots! This is no time to celebrate! I am the chief examiner of the second Exam, Mitarashi Anko! If you plan on taking the second exams, follow me!" Anko cried loudly, a grin wide on her face.

/\/\/\/\

Temari couldn't help but giggle silently, thinking, 'This new examiner reminds me of the Uzumakis!'

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Another suckishly short chapter I didn't even like writing! But now, the piece de resistance has finally come! NEXT CHAPTER IS THE FOREST OF DEATH! FINALLY GODDAMNIT! I've been itching to get to these FOREVER!  
>-Temari<em>


	12. The Second Exam: Beginning

"So this is the Forest of Death?" asked Temari, craning her neck to look around. "What a dump!" cried Narukomi. Sasuke grinned and Naruto laughed at her joke.

/\/\/\/\

"What a joke. This'll be easy the second time around," said Misaomi from nearby them with Kankuro and Gaara. Kankuro looked like he couldn't care less while Gaara was looking at a blonde-haired girl talking to who he assumed-or hoped- was her brother.

/\/\/\/\

"Alright, Inoue, you sure you can handle yourself? You suck at survival exercises; I know, I've trained with you-" "Yeah, yeah, Ino, I got this. Just because dad told you to keep an eye on me doesn't mean you have to insult me in front of my teammates!" Yamanaka Inoue snapped at his year-older sister as his teammates snickered behind him.

Ino glared at them before "Humph!"ing and turning away and stomping back to her own team. 'Damn it! Why did mom and dad let Inoue get so _annoying_? God, he annoys the living crap out of me!' Ino thought furiously, scaring Shikamaru and Choji but not bothering to stop her inner rant.

Suddenly, she felt a chill go up her back and she turned swiftly, almost expecting to find an enemy. But it was simply the red-haired Sand genin, about ten feet away from her with his own team, staring at her curiously. They made eye contact for a millisecond.

Ino blushed and turned away, determined not to turn back to him. 'JINCHURIKI! I'm not supposed to get involved with him!' Ino thought desperately as she took a breath to calm herself.

/\/\/\/\

"Alright, once all your teammates have signed the waver, you can grab your scroll and wait in front of a gate!" called Anko, the proctor. Temari skimmed the waver, not bothering to read the entire thing. 'As if I'm going to die out here,' she thought with a smirk, signing her name at the bottom with a pencil she had in her bag.

About ten minutes later, she and the rest of her team were all gathered in front of a gate. "So, what's our plan?" asked Narukomi. "We should probably split up and look for teams we think are weak, then strike and take their scroll," said Temari.

"You're that confident? Are you sure you can handle splitting from us?" asked Naruto, eyes narrowed in concern. "What, do you doubt my abilities?" asked Temari, sending an irritated glare his way.

"N-no! It's just I've never actually seen you in action, so I don't know what you can do!" Naruto backtracked quickly. Temari blinked in surprise, thinking, 'That's right, I've only used one jutsu since I joined their team, and that was in front of Narukomi!'

"Oh, relax, onii-san, when I found her last week at my training field, it was completely decimated! I doubt anything in that part of the forest lived through that storm of power; right, Temari?" asked Narukomi, putting an arm around her shoulder and grinning at her.

"Yeah, that's right!" Temari said, adding a reassuring smile to her face before saying, "Besides, I've never seen your moves and I have faith in you." Naruto still looked concerned, but he said, "Fine. What do you think, Sasuke? Good idea?"

Sasuke nodded, not saying anything. Following his gaze, Temari saw he was looking at Misaomi. Temari grinned mischievously but said nothing.

/\/\/\/\

"The second test of the Chunin Exams begins…. NOW!" yelled Anko. And the gates opened. Team Seven launched inside, running at a breakneck pace.

"First off, we need a place to meet back with each other, and a time to be there!" called Sasuke. "Right; I'll find a place!" said Narukomi, launching ahead of her teammates like it was nothing at all.

/\/\/\/\

Narukomi raced through the trees several minutes ahead of her teammates, sharp eyes scanning the forest floor. Soon enough, she saw a small clearing near a section of the river. "Here!" she called back to the rest of Team Seven, landing on the ground next to a large root sticking out of the ground.

The rest of her team caught up. "So let's meet back here in, about, a day or so?" asked Temari. Everyone else nodded. And they all split up, each running in a different direction.

_A/N: Why the hell do you keep writing suckishly short chapters? BECAUSE I GOT ALL SIX EPISODES OF FLCL ON DVD TODAY, THAT'S WHY! Sorry, I'll make the next chapter longer and better; I swear on my own ninja way!  
>-Temari<em>


	13. The Second Exam: The Three Tails

'So, we need an Earth scroll as soon as possible,' thought Narukomi, 'And it's just my luck that Sasuke has the scroll instead. I don't have to worry about an ambush attacking me as much.'

Suddenly, Narukomi came to a fast stop as she heard voices nearby. "Alright, so we just find the weakest team and take them down!" said a voice Narukomi recognized. 'Oh, Sakura, you pathetic excuse for a kunoichi,' she sighed inwardly.

Grinning mischievously, Narukomi leapt out of her hiding place and landed in front of Sakura's team, making them all recoil; Sakura even screamed. "Shh! If you do that, every other team is going to hear and wonder what happened; some might even come to check it out!" Narukomi snapped at her.

"Narukomi? What are you doing here?" asked Kensai in surprise. "Well, seeing as you're so weak, I came to give you some quick advice. If you see my other teammates out here, just turn the other way and run; even if it's Sasuke," she said, directing the last part to Sakura.

"Why? Afraid your teammates might get hurt by true talent?" asked Kon, Sakura and Kensai's other teammate. Narukomi burst out laughing. "No! I just don't think a couple of rookies like you should get killed on their first try!" Narukomi laughed before leaping up into one of the tall trees surrounding their area.

"Later, newbies!" Narukomi called before racing away. 'Hmf, if they really think they're more talented than my team, they're sorely mistaken. An Uchiha, and Sand prodigy, and two Jinchuriki all on one team, and they expect to win against us? Not to mention I was trained by the chief medical examiner of the village, so even I'm too much for them to handle!' Narukomi thought with an evil grin as she continued onward into the forest.

/\/\/\/\

Temari leapt from tree to tree, inspecting the forest with her eyes, like a hawk waiting for a sign of prey. Suddenly, she heard voices saying, "Let's go after Sakura's team, they're weak enough." "Yeah, just so long as we stay away from Naruto's team or that Sand team! They looked terrifying!"

Temari looked ahead and saw Ino's team racing ahead of her, clearly unaware she was just behind them. 'Wow, these guys are lame excuses for ninja,' thought Temari, trying to think of something to do.

"There's someone behind us!" gasped one of Ino's teammates, Shikamaru if Temari was correct. They all suddenly turned and whipped out kunai, all throwing some behind them. "Huh, these guys are a little jumpy. Wind Scythe Jutsu!" cried Temari, whipping out her fan and slicing the air in front of her, making a large gust of wind lash out and stop all the kunai, as well as blow Ino and her teammates into a tree.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," said a voice behind her. Temari spun around to find an Amegakure ninja coming up next to her. "I can't tell you how long I've been following these brats, and now I get a free scroll out of it without a scratch on me! Much obliged, genin from the Sand!" The ninja said, leaping ahead to get the scroll of Ino's still disoriented team.

"Oh, no you don't! Dance of Wind Blades!" cried Temari, lashing her fan once again. This time blades of wind came flying at the ninja, slicing him up but not killing him. "Agh! What the hell are you doing? These are your enemy's too, right?" gasped the ninja.

"No, they're not. I don't suppose you've heard, but I'm Sabaku no Temari of the Village Hidden in the Sand. I'm officially a Leaf ninja for an arranged marriage deal my dad has going on with the Fifth Hokage, so I can't just let you hurt my fellow Leaf shinobi, now can I?" asked Temari, taking a stance in front of the three Leaf genin.

"W-what the hell? You were attacking us just a second ago!" gasped Choji, Ino's other teammate. "No, I was stopping your kunai. I had no intention of harming you, considering I'm tough enough to take all three of you on at once. If I'd tried to take your scroll, everyone would just laugh at me for it. There's just no satisfaction in a fight unless you actually find an opponent who's an actual challenge," said Temari, not even bothering to guard herself from them.

"Well with your back turned, you must be pretty confident we can't hurt you, aren't you?" said Shikamaru, taking out a kunai as if to prove her wrong. "Exactly. I'm absolutely positive you can't hurt me. And even if you did, there's no point. One of my other teammates has our scroll, and they're probably long gone by now." Temari said without even turning her head.

The Ame ninja took a stance and called, "Are you going to talk all day or are we going to fight?" "Oh, sorry, I forgot you were there, you're so insignificant!" laughed Temari.

The Ame ninja growled before leaping forward to Temari. "Nice try! Dance of the Dragon!" cried Temari, waving her fan once again and creating multiple mini-tornadoes that went out and cut up the Ame ninja like he was butter.

The Ame ninja screamed and fell back onto a branch, gasping in pain. "And now, _sayonara_, Ame boy! Wind Style: Great Winds of the North!" cried Temari, once again waving her fan.

This time, the wind was so powerful it lifted the Ame ninja up and blasted him backward until they couldn't see him anymore. "There, that was easy," sighed Temari, returning her fan to her sash and turning back to the team. They were all gaping at her in shock.

Temari grinned and leapt up to a higher branch on the tree. "Later, you three! You better make it through this part of the Exam or I'll do the same thing to you!" Temari yelled at them before taking off once again into the trees.

/\/\/\/\

"Who the hell was that girl?" cried Choji, falling onto the ground because his knees had been shaking so much. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out!" said Shikamaru, still gaping at the place she'd disappeared to.

/\/\/\/\

Misaomi was walking through the ground level of the Forest of Death when a great gust of wind brought an Ame ninja flying over her head. 'I guess Temari has gotten to work,' she thought with a wide grin.

Turning away, she walked away from the site and continued alone through the swamp. She's left her teammates awhile back, deciding to look for a scroll on her own since if she stayed with Gaara he'd insist on killing everyone himself.

'Greedy fool,' thought Misaomi with a disdainful sniff. Ever since she'd discovered that she was really a Jinchuriki, Misaomi had felt the Three-Tails bloodlust every day, and if she'd stayed with Gaara, the One-Tail's host, she was sure something bad would've happened.

'I'm going to have to get my hands bloody if I want my consciousness to stay in control of our body,' thought Misaomi. '**Or you could let me take control; come on, you know you want me to! I can find a nice Konoha team to tear apart so it won't be all bad!**' snarled a voice inside Misaomi's head.

'Shut up, Sanbi! I have enough on my mind without you trying to get me to kill a million people!' snapped Misaomi silently, knowing her Tailed Beast could hear her. '**Oh come on, Misa, you know you want to pay those bastards back for what they did to you as a kid! I should know, I've lived inside you long enough to know what you're thinking half the time!**'

'Shut up! I'm not a monster like you are!' Misaomi shouted back, finally allowing her consciousness to slip into her inner mind, allowing her to see the Sanbi face to face. The Three-Tailed Giant Cobra was a massive thing, lethal, and downright terrifying to anyone who hadn't lived with it stuck inside them all their lives.

Its long sinewy body was coiled up behind heavy steel bars, locked inside by a sealing jutsu. "**Come on, Misa-chan; just let me out for a few minutes! Being stuck in this accursed seal is driving me mad!**" he snapped, sounding an awful lot like a little kid.

"No, San, I can't! I'll let you out during the finals, but nothing else! Demonstrating our power is just going to get me worse reputations than I already have! I can't just live with the fact that everyone in this village, even my own family, hates my guts because you're sealed inside them! I know I can't forgive them for what they did, but-!" Misaomi couldn't finish the sentence.

Suddenly, out around her real body, she heard footsteps coming toward her. 'Shit!' Misaomi thought, bringing her mind back in control of her body. She sidestepped several kunai and shuriken as they came flying at her.

"What's this, a little Suna girl all alone in the woods?" asked a harsh voice. Misaomi looked up to see a Konoha team of older genin standing above her on top of a giant tree root.

"You really should have someone with you, sweetheart! This place is dangerous!" said one of the genin. "You don't say? I really didn't notice!" Misaomi said sarcastically, taking a fighting stance.

"What's with the scrolls on your back, girly? One of them a Heaven scroll?" asked another ninja. "Oh, no, these are sealing scrolls for my fan and puppets. I use them to fight most of the time, but I'm just going to finish you guys off without wasting so much chakra!" Misaomi snarled charging her chakra and making her signature hand sign.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she cried. Her soul left her body, yelling, 'Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, San!' Her soul immediately snagged onto the ninja in front of her.

Once in control, she pulled out several kunai and threw them at the other two ninja around her. One ninja ended up having a kunai stab him through the eye into his brain, killing him instantly.

The other tried to dodge, but the kunai ended up slashing his stomach and causing him to bleed to death. 'Kai!' Misaomi thought. Her soul quickly began returning to her body, but the ninja she'd just possessed began moving toward her body, kunai in hand.

'Shit! It'll take to long to get back!' thought Misaomi in horror.

Suddenly a shout filled the air; "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Balls of flame came raining down and nailed the other ninja hard, incinerating him immediately.

'HUH?' thought Misaomi as her soul finally returned to her body. "Misaomi?" asked a voice. Misaomi spun around to see her long time ex-boyfriend standing a little ways behind her, looking surprised.

"Sasuke?"

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Ugh, I've got to work on my gore factor, that was just pathetic! Next time there's gore, I'll describe it so much you'll pee your pants! Oh, and yes, Temari did use some of Kagura's moves; Kagura is from Inuyasha, just FYI. And there will be several more jutsus I make up myself, just so you know.  
>Next time we'll see what fate has in store for Sasuke; will he get the Curse Mark? Will the Sound ninja kill him? And will Orochimaru ever stop being a total child molester? These are the questions for chapter 14!<br>-Temari_


	14. The Second Exam: Reunion

"Sasuke?"

Misaomi gaped at her long-time ex-boyfriend as he jumped down next to her on the floor of the Forest. "You okay?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly, his former shock at seeing his ex-girlfriend gone.

"Peachy, Uchiha boy. What the hell are you doing, wandering around this damn forest alone?" Misaomi snapped back at him. "I could ask you the same thing," Sasuke countered easily, looking her straight in the eye even though she was shooting Killing Intent like a gun fired bullets.

'Damn it, I hate it when he looks at me like that!' Misaomi thought while her heart beat kicked up. Flustered, she snapped, "My team's fine without my help, and I'm fine without their help. What about you?"

"Same." Sasuke said simply, smiling at her angry expression. "You know, you've got to be the only person in the entire village that doesn't tremble at the sight of me," Misaomi said nonchalantly, allowing a slight blush to creep up her cheeks.

She'd seen him when he'd met Temari for the first time, but she hadn't really seen him _this _close since they'd dated years before. Sasuke didn't seem to notice her blush (thank god) but he simply shook his head.

"You gotta admit, snarling at people and calling them a dick right off the bat doesn't make a good impression with most people," he said with a grin, earning him a harsh lump on the back of the head as Misaomi tested her punch on the Uchiha for the first time in a long time.

"Shut up, asshole! Who asked your opinion, anyway? !" she snarled before turning away in a huff. "Where're you going?" Sasuke called as he rubbed the back of his head with anime tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

Misaomi didn't respond, simply digging the Earth scroll out of the pocket of the ninja she'd killed only minutes ago before turning to walk off into the forest.

"Hey! Misa-chan!" Sasuke yelled after her.

At this Misaomi froze. The last time he'd called her that, he'd been pleading her to stay in Konoha until they were of age to marry. Misaomi turned back to look at him.

Sasuke smiled at her as she waited impatiently. "Yes?" she asked with shortening patience.

"Well, if you don't mind my obviously awkward company-"-this got him another smack on the head- "I'd like to go with you, if I can."

"Why, Uchiha? You know I don't want to get back together with you," Misaomi said impatiently. Sasuke shrugged.

"Is it wrong to want to talk to one of my best friends after a year of separation?" he asked simply in that off-hand manner of his, making Misaomi's heart flutter for the first time since she'd left.

"…. I guess you can come along for awhile," Misaomi relented begrudgingly before they both took off through the Forest of Death.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Sorry this chapter's so short, my muse is trying to leave this story behind and work more on 'XMen: Phoenix Reborn'. I'll post again soon, promise! Don't worry; I might be lazy most of the time, but when it comes to my stories, I'll fight through hell just to finish them!  
>-Temari<em>


	15. The Second Exam: Narukomi's Wrath

Naruto was having the easiest time in the world. He'd faced three fully armed teams already, and although none of them had an Earth scroll, he'd had the pleasure of beating the crap out of them.

'Don't mess with Jinchuriki,' he thought smugly, blissfully unaware of the freakish pedophile/snake-like being following behind him under an invisibility jutsu.

/\/\/\/\

Narukomi ducked several kunai as they were about to plunge straight into her neck. "Ha! Missed!" she yelled at the Mist ninja that had attacked her out of nowhere.

"Damn you! Hold still, you flat-chested whore!" the ninja screamed angrily.

Uh-oh. Bad mistake. You see, when they were still in the Academy, the unfortunate Inuzuka Kiba had had the misfortune to comment on Narukomi's flat chest. The boys of the village hadn't said a word about it since then for fear of broken ribs and a crushed nose.

Narukomi's face contorted in rage as she screeched, "I'M NOT FLAT! I'M A LATE BLOOMER, DAMN IT!"

To the Mist ninja's surprise (and horror) she disappeared, reappearing right behind him as if she'd teleported there. He turned slowly to see the red eyes of the Eight-Tailed Hound before being slammed harshly into a tree.

Narukomi followed him to it, screaming, "NEVER" She punched him in the gut, making him cough up blood. "CALL ME" As a last move, she drove her fist into his face, crushing his head against the wood. "FLAT-CHESTED!" she snarled in a voice equal in ferocity to a demon.

Tossing the useless body aside, Narukomi turned away from the pathetic thing and continued on her way through the Forest of Death, unaware of the eyes of several Sound ninja watching her.

/\/\/\/\

About a mile away, a certain Inuzuka shuddered involuntarily. "What's wrong?" asked his teammate Shino as he and Hinata followed him through the forest. "I don't know," said Kiba, shaking his head as Akamaru looked at him with concern, "I just had this really unsettling feeling; like I was being watched by that crazy Uzumaki chick."

/\/\/\/\

Temari heard the screams of rage even when her teammate was miles away. 'Oh, Narukomi,' she sighed in her head, already dangerously aware of her friend's feelings about her chest:

/\/\Flashback/\/\

_"Hey, Temari," Narukomi said suddenly as they were getting dressed for bed. It was the second night she was spending at the Uzumaki residence, and she already felt at home._

_"Yeah?" asked Temari, pulling a T-shirt over her head and stretching to relieve her aching arms._

_"How'd you get your boobs so big?"_

/\/\Flashback End/\/\

Temari giggled at the memory of Narukomi's beat red face as she asked the question. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend, but at the same time she just wanted to laugh at her. Oh well, so much for friendship.

Temari continued on her way, eyes scanning the trees for any signs of life. 'This is going to be one long competition,' she thought with a sigh as she picked up nothing unusual.

/\/\/\/\

_End of Chapter Funnies:  
>Naruto: "Why do you always make the chapters so short now a days? They used to be really long."<br>Me: "Oh, I'm sorry! Why don't you try juggling between six fanfictions, daily life, high school, homework, chores, and dating? ! Why don't you try it? !"  
>Naruto: "..." :O<br>Me: "Huh, I thought so, bitch!"_

_A/N:... It's all up there.^ BTW if you want me to update faster, either leave some nice reviews or vote for this story on my profile poll!  
>-Temari<em>


	16. The Second Exam: Witnesses

Sasuke had to admit, Misaomi had gotten a lot more dangerous and sadistic since the last time he'd seen her. For the past hour they had been picking off teams one by one, Misaomi taking great pleasure in facing them even though she'd already found an Earth scroll. Her face twisted in wicked delight every time they found someone else to destroy, and her eyes took on a more demonic snake-like appearance.

Needless to say, Sasuke tried not to get in her way.

/\/\/\/\

Naruto stared up at the huge snake in front of him, eyes filled with complete boredom towards the giant scaly thing. "Really? If someone really wants me dead, they'll need to get a hell of a lot more creative than this!" he yawned before leaping up and lobbing the snake's head off with a single kunai.

"Oh my, you _are_ strong, aren't you?" called a voice. Naruto turned to see Temari sitting on a tree branch high above him, a grin plastered to her face. "Mind if I follow you? I haven't found anyone strong enough to suit my fancy of fighting," she asked.

"Sure, if you can keep up!" called Naruto, shooting ahead into the trees. "Hey, no fair!" Temari yelled, chasing after him into the trees.

/\/\/\/\

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were having awful luck. They hadn't found a single team weak enough for them to fight and have a chance of winning at all. "Oh man, what are we going to do?" wailed Choji. "Would you pipe down? ! Someone might hear us!" hissed Ino.

Suddenly, all three of them froze as a malevolent chakra seeped into the air. "Is that a Jinchuriki?" asked Shikamaru, spinning around, trying to locate the source of the chakra. "Oh man, we're going to die!" gasped Choji, cowering on the ground in a surrendering manner.

"D-don't be such a wuss, Choji! We'll be fine!" Ino hissed, trying to take control of her terrified shivering. Voices suddenly floated over from a clearing next to their hiding place, and when Ino and her teammates looked towards it, Ino almost gasped in surprise; it was the Sand genin Gaara facing off against three huge Ame ninja…. alone.

"Oh man, that kid's going to get himself killed!" gasped Shikamaru, and Choji ducked down, afraid of the battle's outcome.

Ino couldn't make out what was being said, but she could tell it wasn't good when the lead Ame ninja pulled out several needle-covered umbrellas and tossed them into the air. The needles came off and came flying downward toward Gaara in an inescapable attack. Ino gasped in horror as she heard the needles hit something and she covered her eyes, horrified that it had ended so quickly.

"W-what the hell? !"

At the shocked gasp of the Ame ninja, Ino lifted her head in surprise to see a huge shell of sand surrounding and encasing Gaara in a huge shield. "H-holy crap, he's alive!" gasped Shikamaru, making Choji jump in surprise, but Ino remained frozen, relief coursing through her system at seeing Gaara alive.

"Sand Coffin!" Gaara cried out, and a huge wave of sand rose and engulfed the lead Ame ninja in it's clutches. "Agh! Let me go, you freak of nature!" The Ame ninja gasped, struggling against the sand.

"If you don't stop yapping, I'll seal your lips… and cut off your air. But you're hardly worth it." Gaara sighed quietly, picking up one of the ninja's discarded umbrellas and lifting his hand.

"Sand Burial!"

The entire sand prison imploded, crushing the ninja with thousands of tons of force. The ninja's teammates screamed in terror as their leader's blood rained down on them from above.

Ino could barely hear anything as the ringing in her ears grew louder as Gaara incased the other two ninja in sand and crushed them too. "Ino! We need to get out of here! MOVE IT!" hissed Shikamaru, trying to shove her out of their hiding place to run.

But Gaara heard him, and he turned to the bush they were hiding behind. "Why not come and face death bravely instead of hiding from it like little cowards?" he called out, making them all freeze.

Slowly, torturously, Gaara walked towards their hiding place. Ino couldn't move no matter how much she wanted to; her terrified shivering seemed to anchor her legs in place.

Finally, Gaara appeared behind them, and Ino slowly turned towards him, eyes filled with terror. But Gaara simply walked past them. He didn't stop. He didn't look back at them. All he said was, "You're not even worth destroying."

/\/\/\/\

Gaara couldn't believe it. Of ALL the candidates that could've seen him do something so awful, it had to be _her_; the moment he'd seen her, looking at him with pure terror etched across her face, he'd almost felt the need to actually _apologize _for doing that to those stupid jerks now lying dead in the clearing.

'Now it's official; she'll never feel anything toward me,' thought Gaara, the horror of the realization almost sending him to his knees. He had no idea what he could possibly do to make her forget the things she'd seen him do, and he never would.

It was a terrible, awful realization to see your one chance of love taken from you, and it would haunt Gaara for a long time.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Hey guys! WOW, it's been forever since I worked on this; I'm so sorry about that! KK, I'll talk to you guys later! BYE!  
>-Temari<em>


	17. Author's Note

A/N: Look peoples, I'm REALLY sorry for not posting in, like, FOREVER, but I have a lot of stuff going on; I've been busy working on other fanfictions and crap, and I keep forgetting about this story... Look people, I'm freaking ADHD; you can't expect me to remember this story ALL THE TIME! Gosh! Anyway, I'll try to think of a new chapter, but right now you'll have to live with the silence a little longer. I'll try to get back into this story, but I can tell you this; I'm not promising anything. I can't promise I'll post again soon. Just try to be patient with me, but know this as a last thought:

I'm sorry, but if I can't get out of this funk anytime soon, I'm going to delete this story and post it again later when I start getting out of the funk. I'm sorry again, but I can't handle you people complaining left and right; my life is already stressful! You people have NO IDEA what the hell I'm going through, so you better just learn some freaking patience!

-Temari


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